Anyone who favors flash over substance isn't likely to have a Honda VTX1300T
in the garage. Honda's new middle-weight tourer is a laid-back Dairy Queen
of a bike -- a simple, straightforward cruiser for riders who like their
milk whole and their bacon thick.

It's a Midwesterner's motorcycle, which is why so many of the 25,000
VTX1300s Honda sells each year are in corn country, where the talk is
straight, the roads are long and tolerance for any sort of showboating is
shorter than your average 4-H member.

The VTX1300T is the latest addition to Honda's alphabet soup of VTX
cruisers. Japan's biggest motorcycle manufacturer launched its VTX line for
the 2002 model year, with a burly 1,800-cc V-twin that was so successful
there have been five versions. Its VTX1300, launched for 2003, has followed
a similar trajectory. Already, there have been C, R and S versions of its
middleweight shaft-drive cruiser, all of which are style variations on the
same theme. With its VTX1300T, Honda adds a tourer to the mix.

The VTX1300T is a real meat-and-potatoes sort of bike, but it lacks the
gravy. The 52-degree V-twin is liquid cooled, but it isn't fuel injected.
And the display is so bare-bones that it's practically down to the marrow --
giving just speed and distance, along with idiot lights for the turn
signals, engine temperature, oil and neutral.

Of the VTX1300s, the T is most similar to the R in terms of styling, with
its valanced fenders, floorboards, fat 140-mm front tire and chromed
internal organs. It's just geared up with a windscreen, saddlebags and sissy
bar -- a trio of accessories that were already the most popular VTX1300
add-ons. The T just makes it official. The three pieces are stock for an
extra $1,400.

To see if the additions were worth the money, I loaded up the buckled,
24-liter cowhide bags and headed north for an up-the-coast overnighter,
which was unremarkable except for the wind. I was attempting to beat the
trio of storms headed for Los Angeles and ran into gusts so gnarly that they
had won themselves a red-flag warning.

The trees on my route were shimmying, but the 748-pound VTX1300T refused to
be pushed around. It didn't just stand its ground -- it charged forward, its
ample windscreen battling the gale forces, like a bull resisting a branding.

The VTX1300T isn't the most torquey V-twin I've ever tested, but it had
ample oomph and a nice linear powerband that had plenty of giddyap even at
higher revs. I spent most of my time in fourth gear, which kept me cruising
in the left lane. I never felt the need to kick the rock 'n' roll shifter
into fifth, but it was nice to know it was there had I felt inspired to
tempt the CHP.

Most of my saddle time was straight and on the 101, but I did take a 35-mile
detour through the Los Padres National Forest to see how it handled the
sweeping turns of California 154, which was as well as could be expected.
The VTX1300T has a low 27.4-inch seat but a long, 65.7-inch wheelbase, so I
wouldn't recommend it for twisties that were a whole lot tighter.

Slowing down, I wished there was a little more braking power when I put the
squeeze on the single, 336-mm front disc with the twin-piston caliper
because this bike is big and it isn't exactly slow. The brakes were fine for
slowing under normal circumstances, but emergency braking could be an issue.